Hydrophilous Brood is their Willowtip Records debut, and this is eight songs in thirty-eight minutes. The band packs a ton of time changes, technicality, and brutality into these tongue-twister-named songs. “Nebulous Appendages of Vacillant Seafoam” begins with a short sci-fi intro, which gets right into the guttural growl, and the song blasts along. Allen is a damn good drummer, and he even lends some guitar solos on tracks 5 and 6. He’s also in like a bajillion bands, Tombseeker and Sanguinary Consummation, just to name a few. Garry has a variety of vocal tones, and the influences from Antti from Demilich and Phlegeton, from Wormed, are highly evident in the filthy, burpee gutturals. The time changes and brutality, in this song, are a thing of beauty.

“Driftmoth Vivisector” begins monstrously with the opening blasts and some creative galloping moments, and then goes back into the ruthless blasting. Excellent isolated guitar riff that erupts into a blast beat. You will enjoy the excellent guitar harmonies and the brutal madness, really calling to mind Wormed and Demilich. I love the varying vocal tones and the complexity of the space-themed brutality. We are even greeted with some gravity blasts.

“Biohybrid Virulence” has soft galloping moments, then brutal time changes with the music blasting at full force with mind-boggling instrumentation. The snare drum is able to cut through all the heaviness and has a deep, resonating sound. It is mixed in quite well. The throw-up type of growl at the 1.15 section is pretty gnarly as the proggy moment erupts. The killer double bass comes in over the ethereal/prog moments, and the start and stop moments are played with conviction. Such a great song.

“Serene Aqueous Leech” ends the album. Slow opening moments with jazzy moments. Think of lounge music to get a picture of what is happening in the beginning. Then, at the 55-second marker, that jazzy lounge section turns into the jazz circle pit from hell. The brutality is on full display with the swirling blast beats, and they are fast AF. Pinch harmonics sweep right in to realign your back in 0.0 seconds. The massive amount of time changes is enough to drive you mad and is super creative. The song eventually slows down and ends, kind of how it started.

Hydrophilous Brood is a most excellent release by Sallow Moth. From the trippy and fantasy-laden album cover to a warm and inviting production, this band is class. Super guttural brutality, with tons of time changes and interesting musical passages. Sallow Moth is creative and one of the better, lesser-known, underground bands. You must give this band a listen; they have conviction and are ruthless!

Quadvium (if you didn’t know already) is a project of Steve Di Giorgio (Testament, Death) and Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Obscura, Pestilence). They grabbed a guitar player along the way and a drummer: Yuma van Eekelen (Our Oceans, Pestilence) and Eve (Myth Of I, Kaathe). Thus Quadvium was born and Tetradōm is the breathtaking release that has come from this union.

So how is Tetradōm? Well, I’ve already used breathtaking so that knocks out one adjective but good thing I have a Thesaurus! Kidding aside, it’s an intense album; filled with blistering speed at times and passages that are mind-twisting. Its Jazz turned upside down, taken to the highest level of extremity.

“Moksha” is the introduction to this Jazzy attack and it just gives me the willies at how good this is, right out of the gate the twin bassist lines are mesmerizing, they intertwine with the whirlwind of emotions. This is music that moves through you, grabbing the heart and soul with a sublime level of intensity.

This is a magnificent album, this is evidenced by the killer intro to “Náströnd”. It’s mind-blowing how much this is a future-looking creation. It nods to the source bands perfectly, Steve Di Giorgio played on the most Tech-Death albums ever; those being Death’s Human and Individual Thought Patterns. There are also huge Obscura and Necrophagist passages that drill into your brain; tracks like “Apophis” and “Ghardus” that weave violence within gorgeous tapestries.

Tetradōm is a complex album. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, clocking in at a respectable 33:57 minutes long. The magic is made with what Quadvium does within that time frame; it leaves room for my two favorite tracks, “Adhyasa” and “Sarab”. These two are punishingly beautiful. They set the stage (in epic fashion) for the ending track “Eidolon”. It’s the perfect ending song for this very special album, they really up the Jazz on this one.

Albums like Tetradōm are why I have fallen hard for Ultra-Jazzy Tech-Death; not all the bands are this good but who gives a fuck? In this age of individuality bands like Quadvium are needed to provide balance to the world.

This is why you need to get this album. If you love Necrophagist, Obscura, later Death, and Pestilence then you need this in your life. Grab it!

My favorite part of being a Music Critic is discovering badass bands that I probably wouldn’t have heard. That’s where Sarmat come in with a sequel to The Dubious Disk EP called Upgrade and believe me, this little fucker slaps!

Beginning with the title track it comes blasting in, full-bore and on fire. For thirteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds we’re taken on a frenzied journey into sounds not of this earth. Around the eleven minutes mark it erupts into a Jazz fueled Death Metal monster, going hell for leather; while the maelstrom spins like a swarm of angry bees.

The amount of talent presented here is impressive. James Jones – Drums: Tracks 1 and 2, Steve Blanco (Imperial Triumphant) – Bass Guitar: Track 1, Keytar: Track 2, Zachary Blakeslee-Reid – Guitar: Track 1, Ryan Hale – Guitar: Track 2, Niko Hasapopoulos – Arm, Upright Bass: Track 2, Oskar Stenmark – Trumpet: Track 1, Jerome Burns – Trumpet: Track 2, Ilya Belko – Vocals : Track 1.

That’s an awesome display of musical power and it’s followed by the shorter, but no less deadly “Serum Visions” a seven minute and forty-four second cosmic Jazz workout. There’s blasting drums twisting riffs and trumpets from the bowels of Hell. Some screamed vocals come in and out intermittently.

Over the course of this review I went to Bandcamp and picked up the Dubious Disk EP and their second album Determined to Strike. It became glaringly obvious that I need more Sarmat in my life.

Upgrade was composed by James Jones, Zachary Blakeslee-Reid, Drummond Dominguez-Kincannon, Darell Maxwell. Lyrics by Darell Maxwell and James Jones. “Serum Visions” composed by Niko Hasapopoulos, James Jones, Ryan Hale. Produced by James Jones. Recorded by Tim Haggerty at Silverchord Studios. Additional engineering by Zachary-Blakeslee Reid, and Niko Hasapopoulos. Mixed and mastered by Colin Marston. Art Direction by James Jones. Photography and photo editing by Brandon Wisecarver at Solas Studio, NYC. Album Art Concept by James Jones. Visual design by Francesco Gemelli. The cover art is liminal and matches the music contained within perfectly.

This is a crushing album, Jazz melding with Brutal Death Metal and I highly recommend this for people who love Gorguts, Imperial Triumphant, Atheist and Defeated Sanity. Go get it and prepare to be leveled.

Mike did not stick around for the other Nocturnus releases and when the debut Nocturnus AD album Paradox, dropped in 2019, it blew me away.  I even bought the long-sleeve design and the album is the true third album, after Thresholds in the Nocturnus discography.  I love the album, it captures the true nature of the band, with their satanic, anti-religious, time travel space-themes mumbo jumble and memorable songs.  Returning for the follow-up, Unicursal, is pretty much the same line-up Demian Heftel and Belial Koblak on guitars, Josh Holdren on keys, and Kyle Sokol making his debut on bass.

Unicursal has eight songs, along with an intro and outro, 10 songs in a whopping hour, with a fantastic and whimsical album cover.  The opening instrumental equipped with keys and space sounds, is terrific, and I feel it’s 1990 yet again.  “The Ascension Throne of Osiris” blasts right out of the starting gate and I notice a thinner production than on Paradox and Mike erupts with a less powerful gruff barking vocal delivery, but for some reason, there seems to be a lack of power.  This could be due to the thin production.  The opening is fast and guitars are technical in sound which is certainly a staple for the band, and the keys are very catchy.  Some of the drum beats are quite good, at times, but the fast parts are lacking in power, with some awkward patterns, which do not gel completely.

“CephaloGod” is next with an otherworldly intro to get things started.  A nice pounding drum beat and guitar riffing comes forth with terrific keys, transporting us to the signature Nocturnus sound.  Vocals are lacking in power and are a bit buried/muffled in sound.  Cool noodly soloing is happening but the fast parts fly by without staying power.  The slower, or should I say, galloping moments of this track stand out so much more than the faster parts. After these less than five-minute numbers the band shifts towards exceedingly longer songs and without including the four-minute outro these next songs have an average length of 7 minutes, with several songs close to nine minutes.  For this type of technical/exploratory music, Nocturnus AD writes, this is overkill on the listener.

“Hod, the Stellar Light” is one of those 8+ minute songs starting with some dazzling starlight keyboards, which are beautiful and the shift to the mid-paced crunch is great, but the vocal laugh soon thereafter, is quite cringy.  The vocoder effect Browning uses on this song are neat, though, however lacks power, to coincide with the music.  There are plenty of solos and atmospheric moments and the galloping moments are headbang-worthy.  For the most part, though, it’s difficult to find anything truly memorable, other than maybe the keys solo nearing the end.

“Netzach, the Fire of Victory” has fascinating guitar solos, but these spoken word type of vocals Browning pretty much does for the album’s duration is a mixed bag of sorts – there is no power to them, and they just add really nothing special.  What I am trying to say is they detract more from the sound then positively add to it.

I am not sure what happened with Nocturnus AD on Unicursal, since the awesome Paradox, as the majority of the band is intact since then.  The band opting for this much longer timeframe and at an hour’s length, the album is 15-20 minutes too long.  Had the production, vocal delivery, and the songs been streamlined a lot more, I feel this would have been a far better album.  Overall this is not nearly as catchy as past efforts and quite a number of parts are pretty boring.  If the band is going forward with delivering another album, down the road, maybe Browning should consider focusing more on the drum work and the band bring in a singer who can match the power that I know the band possesses.  The keys on this album are fantastic and the album cover is beyond striking.  However, I do not continue to listen to albums based on an awesome cover and keyboards, unless the rest of the music and vocals deliver.  The band can do much better.

Then in 2014, the band unleashed the brilliant Sun Eater, a pure progressive, tech death album with Death, Cynic and Atheist influences to widespread acclaim and put the band more in line with modern bands like Beyond Creation and Obscura than their early deathcore brethren.

Phew, got it?

So here we are 10 years later and JFAC has released Moon Healer, a thematic follow-up to Sun Eater (didn’t Ghostbath do this already?). And those who enjoyed Sun Eater‘s more proggy, fretless bass twangy, tech death will be relieved that Jonny Davy and co. have continued that sound for Moon Healer.

Now, I’ll admit initially Moon Healer isn’t hitting me as hard or as quick as Sun Eater did. I think that that’s largely in part due to the shock factor of how good and different Sun Eater was when it was released, and the expectation was set for following releases, even 10 years later. So Moon Healer is indeed the same exact style as Sun Eater, but now I was expecting it. It might even be a little more adventurous and free-form than Sun Eater, with even more complex layering and stuttering time changes, removing all semblance of ‘core altogether (Sun Eater had a few wafts left behind).

At the core of JFACs now not-so-new sound is still the twangy bass of Nick Schendzielos (Cephalic Carnage). His creative bass play (oo-er!) drives every element of every song along with Davy’s growls, rasps and hisses and Alan Glassman’s succinct, tight riffing. You won’t be humming or recalling any of the 8 songs anytime soon, but JFAC does a great job of making the 39-minute runtime feel much longer with its slithering, alluring complexity and constantly shifting kaleidoscopic riffs.

From the opener “Beyond the Chemical Doorway” through personal favorites, the more restrained “A Sorrow-Filled Moon” and blistering “The Agony Seeping Storm” to moodier, mindbending closer “The Forever Rot” the album continually unravels something new upon each listen (i.e the sudden little jazz breaks in “Etched in Oblivion”, the Meshuggah-inspired percussive lurches of “The Sun Gave Me Ashes So I Sought Out the Moon”). I’m sure I’ll discover even more.

I fully expect the greatness of Moon Healer to sink in much alter for me as it did with the likes of Human Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic many years ago. And I am greatly looking forward to the next part of this concept’s run of albums (Earth Fingerer? Mars Pegger?), just not 10 years from now, please.

The opening track of disc one “Qliphosis” kicks things off with a spacey arpeggio line and the vocal talents of Morean.  The track eventually kicks into the heavy groovy octave sections and more of a death metal feel.  The first guitar solo on the album is nuts. “The Cambrian Explosion” opens with an absolute shred fest into some riffing that reminds me a bit of Necrophagist.  There is so much going on each track. One thing is for sure.  The production on this is top notch.  I also dig the clean jazz break towards the end of the tune.  Former member Danny Tunker (Aborted, Spawn of Possession) does a guest solo on this one and it is crazy.

The track length on disc one is around four to eight minutes a track.   I cannot say enough good things about these arrangements. “Clusterfuck” starts off incredibly bleak before starting to riff your face off with heavy chugs.  For some, the clean vocals might be a bit overkill but for the most part, I don’t really mind them as they provide nice contrast to the heavy vocals.  “Shades of Shub Niggurath” is one of my favorite tracks on disc one.  No shortage of catchy riffs.  Alan Douches did a fantastic job mastering this. “A Fools Desire” opens with some gorgeous acoustic guitar work. Morean’s vocal work is outstanding here. “The Fungi from Yuggoth” closes disc one and continues along similar lines as most of disc one as far as bringing it with the fantastic performances from the entire band.   The double lead towards the end is absolute fire that segues into every more insane lead work.

Disc two kicks off with a shorter instrumental track called “The Black Siren”.  Again, the guitar work on this is on another level.  In a sense it could be a bit of an intermission track as it is not too long and segues into the title track “Numen”. “Numen” slowly fades in and the first riff sounds like it is accompanied by an organ.  This is probably the most prog-sounding song of the two discs.  It has a playful quality about it. “Recursion” opens with layers of discordance which makes picking a focal point a bit challenging. “The Folding is by far the heaviest song of the two discs and has a djent vibe to it with the lower tuning.  Very unsettling. “Alpha Fur” the closing track starts with clean tone guitar for the first few minutes before vocals come in. This is the longest track of disc two clocking in at over thirteen minutes.

Numen is up there with album of the year contender.  I would say it is the best double album I have heard this year.   An acquired taste but if you are a fan of these guys you are going to be very happy here.

I have reviewed the band’s previous albums The Time Traveler’s Dilemma, and Four Dimensional Flesh, as well as their 2014 demo and the Foeticidal Embryo Harvestation demo compilation, which I did liners for.  Also played many shows with the band years ago, when I was in Internal Bleeding and befriending the band all those years ago…AND, also have a guest singing spot on “Timeless Formless”, off The Time Traveler’s Dilemma, owning several pieces of merch…I think it’s safe to say I kinda know what the hell I am talking about when it comes to this special band.

I’ll briefly mention this because some fans come in and out of the music scene and if this is the first time they’ve heard Afterbirth, since their demo days, they could be slightly miffed.  Afterbirth started in the early 90’s and played a brutal form of NYDM..nothing fancy schmancy, just rip-your-face-apart death metal.  Their 2014 return demo, with classic original vocalist Matt Duncan (RIP Metal brother and friend), continued that trend.  As the band continued to mold their craft and Will entered as the new vocalist, the band with the release of the debut album, combined atmospheric, progressive, and technical musical aspects to their already brutal style.  The gelling of these genres was seamless and expansive.

With almost the exact run time of their previous album, In but Not Of, at 35 minutes contains 11 tracks, with “Tightening the Screws”, literally blasting right the fuck outta the starting gates.  At under two minutes, the song has a nice short drum roll which goes into a scorching blast with Will vomiting his putrid filthy gurgles all over the place.  The song has creative riffs, which are memorable and the scream Will lets loose is excellent as his vocals go from gurgles to mid-range 90’s death metal vocals and some screams – varied as usual.

Before you can say I need to order “Moons Over My Hammy” the song ends and “Devils with Dead Eyes” starts with a nice 90’s era death metal pacing, before the blasting comes in and the main guitar riff which goes over the drum rolls is excellent.  The guitar solos/harmonies at the 1.45 section are all excellent and piped in a little louder in the mix, for dramatic effect.  These are those progressive technical elements I mentioned earlier and the song gets into a slower very ethereal atmosphere..almost dreamlike modern-day Cynic-sounding part, before returning to the blasting.  This song owns from beginning to end.

“Vomit on Humanity” is up next and is re-recorded from the 2014 demo.  Will emulates Matt Duncan’s gurgles perfectly and the song stays true to the original, even the bass guitar isolated moments, early on.  With the main and extremely catchy guitar riff and some monstrous blasts, this is still one of the best songs Afterbirth has written and needs to be in their live set.  The title track is the longest song at five minutes and begins very progressive in nature…again think Cynic…it’s very soothing, relaxing, and experimental and once the guitar comes in more, it’s just excellent.  There are very few vocals on this song.  When they do come in they punch hard.

In but Not Of is yet another excellent album from Afterbirth.  I am hoping that being on a smaller label now they are a little bit of the bigger fish in a small pond analogy as opposed to small fish in a big pond.  Perhaps, Willowtip can get the band on a tour or two.  I say this because since coming back to the scene, Afterbirth has increased in popularity and many of the reviews of their previous albums, outside of my positive ones, have been very gleaming.  The production on this album is well done and I have listened to this album, probably 25 times already on various devices, and systems to absorb all that is going on with the various vocals and instrumentation.  Yeah, this is a Buy or Die, of the highest order!

Things kick off with “King of Hearts” which opens with an instrumental acoustic passage before the fretless bass work kicks in and the tempo picks up.   One thing that is noticeable off the bat is the keen sense of intensity and melody.  The production is also pristinely clean.  This is quite an ambitious release at a run time of over forty-eight minutes.  “Axiom Architect” is one of the most aggressive tracks. I am curious about what session members join Klusenitzer on this release as I was unable to find that information.  The guitar solo on this track sounds like it could have been done by either Danny Tunker (Former Aborted, Spawn of Possession) or Christian Muenzer (Obscura).

“Our Souls Set Sail” is another fantastic track that does an impressive job of building from an acoustic intro into some gorgeous melodies. The clean vocals on this one is in key and do not sound forced.  I am quite impressed with these arrangements.  This is a bit of a longer album with a run time of over forty-eight minutes.

I find it interesting that this release and the band Alkaloid both have releases this year. Both projects feature Klausenitzer and have similar vibes at times.  Check it out when it comes out. I cannot say enough amazing things about Klausenitzer’s bass work. “Sehraff Streaming” also opens with an acoustic introduction before things turn into a progressive death metal clinic. “Sword Swallower” is the heaviest track on Tulpa.  It also has some of the craziest lead work on the album.

“Sister in Black” opens with a clean tone bass instrumental with some synths added.  The placement of this track is at a great spot in the album as there is a lot to process up until this point.  “The Devil’s Tongue” proceeds to go back into a more aggressive arrangement. “Queen of Hearts” is one of two tracks on the album over seven minutes. “Dig Deeper” opens with more acoustic clean-tone guitars before things pick up.  One thing is for sure there is enough groove on this album to keep your headbanging throughout.

“Lunar Assailant” is the other song on here over seven minutes and has a nice melodic bill like a lot of the tracks on Tulpa.  If you are a fan of Obscura or Alkaloid, I cannot see why you would not dig this.  Thumbs up for this one.

With Pestilence on a new label over the last several years, Agonia Records, the label decided to do brand new reissues, sounds redundant, I know.  I only have the digital downloads of these and it appears there was no bonus material added to these reissues.  The main goal of Pestilence mainman, Patrick Mameli, for these new reissues, was to be able to go back to the source material in order to get the best possible sound out of these four original masterpieces.  The remastered sound significantly improves on the overall audio quality of past reissues. The remastering was done by Satanic Audio (Behemoth, Azarath).  So let me talk about each of these albums individually in brief spurts and I will go on record as saying the album which benefited the most from these new remasters is Spheres.

After a few demos Netherlands based act Pestilence, were signed to R/C Records and the debut album Malleus Maleficarum was released in 1988.  10 songs of pretty intense death/thrash metal that put the band on the map.  The Netherlands would become a hotbed for death metal with the likes of Gorefest, Asphyx, Thanatos, and many more, and is still one of my favorite areas for extreme metal.  This album really started the whole hybrid death/thrash movement, if you ask me.  The title track is a damn good instrumental which went right into “Antropomorphia”.  Newcomer to the vocal scene Martin v. Drunen had a quick snappy snarling vocal delivery and yes he sounded like Obituary’s John Tardy, or is it the other way around??  Hmmm, because this album dropped a year prior to Obit’s debut, Slowly We Rot.

Regardless the music displayed on this album, at times is unbridled, unrestrained, and a little sloppy, but this all added to the charm- “Extreme Unction” I am looking at you, ya bastid.  Many other songs were fleshed out more, such as “Bacterial Surgery”, with some excellent double bass drums, courtesy of Mr. Marco Foddis.  The guitar work of Patrick and Randy Meinhard was still impressive and the music goes perfectly with the torture driven album cover.  The remaster is louder, more in your face than past reissues and crisper.  Check out the power of the remaster, especially on the last track “Systematic Instruction”.  The song has speed, power and some mid-paced moments and the drums hit hard with the remaster, as does the vocals and instruments.

This album got Pestilence noticed and then a year later the proverbial atom bomb dropped with Consuming Impulse, the band’s second album.  Minhard was out and Patrick Uterwijk, a better guitarist, entered the picture and this album went full-throttle death metal and still is one of the heaviest death metal albums ever.  10 songs again and this was actually my introduction to Pestilence.  I was at a show in NY and a friend of mine had ripped it from a cd onto cassette and he let me hear some of it on his Walkman.  I was like holy crap this is heavy AF.  Then while going to a show my friend bought the album on cassette and we listened to it while going to the show.  The next day I purchased it on cd, then I found out a few weeks later about their debut album and picked that up a few months later.

This album is a perfect death metal album and “Dehydrated” wasted no time, as it marched out of the starting gates, with a heavier guitar sound, Martin using lower vocal registers and Pestilence adding some doom to the mix.  When the slow down happens with some of the best vocal patterns known to man – look out!: Vultures circling in the sky, Peeling the flesh from a corpse, Blankened bones are all that’s left, Dehydration as the death cause.  This is quoted from my memory and over 30 years later every fucking time I hear this part I pick up houses, curl them and then launch them into outer space.  This part is untouchable.  It’s not like the rest of the album did not kill as well, the next song “The Process of Suffocation” with the scorching opening drum patterns and varying tempo shifts to “Out of the Body”, which is still played live to this day, really Pestilence out did themselves on this and the album cover with the ants on the dudes face is still considered one of the most striking album covers.  The new remaster pushes the guitar sound to the front a bit more and the drums have an even more resonating deep bass sound to them.

Testimony of the Ancients dropped in 1991 and some line-up shifts took center stage with Van Drunen rolling out to Asphyx and Tony Choy entering in to take over the bass guitar duties and Patrick taking on the vocals, which he continues to present day.  I love all the Pestilence albums – ALL of them, but it seems like Testimony is considered, by many to be their finest album.  For me, with the shifts in line-up, the band progressing in their song writing and musical ability, this album was the natural progression for them and the shift they needed to make in order to stay relevant in the ever increasing and saturated death metal scene.  Going down to Florida’s legendary Morrisound Studios fleshed out a tighter and crisper Pestilence and Patrick’s vocals, maybe had a flair of Chuck Schuldiner to them, but also did not stray too far from Van Drunen.

Nevertheless, I was a first day buyer of this cd and I was like hot damn Patrick has a set of pipes, damnit.  The band included multiple intrumentals/interludes on the album with a whopping 16 tracks, which was pretty much unheard of in the death metal community, at the time.  The interludes were short and the album’s run time at 43 minutes was perfect.   “The Secrecies of Horror” crushing right out of the starting gates and the band becoming even catchier with their song writing and the main opening riff and Patrick’s growl before getting right into the song, is pure classic and set the stage that Patrick loved this band and with the shifts in line-ups was not about to have the band fold.  He was a man with a mission and there is so much genius on this album, with the ethereal guitar soloing on “Twisted Truth” or the crushing opening of “Prophetic Revelations”, almost a little poly-rhythmic in nature, this opening is one of the most memorable moments in death metal, I feel.  Every song rules and “Stigmatized” is still one of the best Pestilence songs ever recorded.  The album cover went towards a more spacey feeling and away from the typical death metal covers, at the time, and was perfect with the new and improved technical sound of Pestilence.  This remaster makes the crispness of the original recording even more biting, much louder and the solos, which were already upped in the original mix, will decapitate anyone within a 2 inch radius of a speaker.

Spheres dropped in 1993 and the Pestilence fanbase became torn as Patrick went into a more hybrid mix of technical jazz fusion death metal.  I will go on record as saying I did not like this album when it was released.  Maybe it was due to the raw production, but my brother, who was a guitarist, loved the album.  To be perfectly honest with you it took me 10 years to finally appreciate the genius of this album.  In 2003, I have no idea why, I flipped on the album and it clicked, so for the last 20 years I have made up for that 10 year span I did not listen to Spheres, 100 fold, trust me.  Jeroen Paul Thesseling entered as the new bassist and Pestilence disbanded in 1994 because the public was so hyper critical of the album, in reviews and the fans as well.  The guitar synths really benefit from this new remaster.  Listen to the opener “Mind Reflections” to hear them buzzing through your speakers.  A thing of beauty.

The music on Spheres is still energetic and fast, but also mellower moments.  “Personal Energy” with the spacey feeling and emotive atmosphere is actually a beautiful musical piece with varying vocal tones.  Listen to this song in the summertime, at night and gaze up at the stars, if it’s a clear sky.  I have done this multiple times in the last 2 decades and you will see what I mean when I say this is a beautiful musical piece with some of the most intricate drumming by Marco Foddis and from the melodies, vocal patterns, synths, the musical landscape, of this track, makes this a top 10 Pestilence song for me.  The original artwork, by Dan Seagrave, was rejected by the band, but made its way as the cover for the MetalMind gold disc remaster in 2007.  I like the original cover, but it was a little too cartoony, and the eventual cover the band went with, for me, was the way to go.  As I stated earlier Spheres sounds crushing with this remaster and there are so many nuances and sounds that just cut through so much more now.  I was so thrilled when Pestilence burst back onto the scene in 2008 and the 2009 reunion album Resurrection Macabre was a crushing album and destroyed everything in the solar system.

So there you have it.  If you do not own the Hammerheart deluxe reissues, you may not want these new remasters.  I am not here to tell you how to spend your money with these albums, which have been reissued several times in the past.  What I can definitively tell you is these first four legendary Pestilence albums never sounded better and hopefully this does not become a George Lucas type of thing where Lucas seems to always tinker with the original Star Wars Trilogy.  These are landmark death metal albums and each album is different from the next.  Great band and great sounding reissues!

A most perfect case in point would be Lamentations‘ just released sophomore album, Passion of Depression. While the album came at me totally out of left field, as I am previously unfamiliar with the band, I can definitely assure you that it will be on my list of best albums of 2022. In fact, it just may very well claim the number one spot.

Applying an equally impressive mix of both progressive and technical death metal, Lamentations present a style that is pure bliss to my ears. Imagine a project where the collaborative talents of Paul Masvidal, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Steve Tucker, and ICS Vortex came to fruition in a supergroup of the unfathomable. If you can wrap your head around that, then you pretty much understand what Lamentations brings to the table. Sure, saying that they sound like a mix of Cynic and Opeth with late 90’s to early 2000’s era Morbid Angel and Borknagar vocals may seem like a common, death metal man’s way of describing such an amazing showmanship of extremity, but shit man, if that description doesn’t pique your interest, then I don’t know what will.

Just a few minutes shy from being an hour long affair, Passion of Depression manages to keep the listener fully engaged at all times and never does the album seem long in the tooth or guilty of overstaying its welcome. While the aforementioned influences are clearly noticeable the band also brings a quality of acts such as Extol, Black Crown Initiate, Archspire, Psycroptic and of course Monotheist, whom Lamentations share  pretty much every member  with on Passion… So impressive are the tracks of Passion of Depression, that I’ll kiss my own ass if you can find one song that actually stands above the other. No sir, this album is seven tracks of pure excellence, each standing on their own identity and integrity, but honestly, working marvelously together as whole in bringing quite an enthralling experience to the listener. Hell, turn down the lights and throw this bad boy on your headphones and your likely to transcend  and hallucinate some wild shit. That says a lot, considering that the majority of Passion... is some ferocious death metal.

Proficient and skillful masters of their craft, Passion of Depression is uplifting, melodic, and memorable right from the onset. The textures woven throughout each track create a kaleidoscope of possibilities, never knowing what twist or turn may come next, what peak or valley lays ahead. The juxtaposition of beauty and beast are transposed flawlessly and with such a natural and progressive flow. You, get an “80 days around the world” experience in every moment on Passion…, quite an impressive feat. Like I stated earlier, there are no songs that truly outshine the other here, no filler to be found, just pure technical and emotional brilliance that deserves to be heard. Huge riffs, mammoth grooves, fantastic leads and melodic flourishings, thoughtful and intelligently busy bass and drumwork, and vocal performances that can bring a tear to your eye as well as a fist to someone’s face.

This album is the real deal my friends, and to try and break down the tracks or even focus on  one or two parts of them is honestly, insulting. This album, these songs, they deserve to be treated as a proper listening experience, unmolested by intense critique, as to have you develop your own bond. Just trust me, this is an album you need and it actually excites me to think of others hearing this from start to finish for the first time and being engulfed in its immensity and awesomeness.

Major accolades to Lamentations main man and mastermind, Danny “Jungle” Jacob for surrounding himself with such a great line up as to bring his creations to brilliant fruition and for keeping everything genuine. With guest spots from the likes of Max Phelps (Cynic, Death DTA), Ethan McKenna (Black Crown Initiate), Ole Børud (Extol, Fleshkiller), Jason Globel (Cynic), and  Santiago Dobles (Aghora, Pestilence, Cynic),  one might think there is simply just too much and too many involved for Passion… to truly be cohesive, but fret not, like I just  mentioned, this is an album you need.

Sure, I guess I could have mentioned some individual traits of certain tracks, like that groove (that fucking groove!) at the 1:39 mark of “Shiver” that eventually leads into clean vocals of beauty and serenity before brilliant synths mix with brutal gutturals and the track again shifts into fields of tranquil transcendence and virtuosity. Yet that’s just an inkling of what is to be found within the almost ten minutes of said track, much less all across the entire album.

If you thought you had your “best of” or favorite albums of the year figured out, and you haven’t had a chance to indulge in Passion of Depression yet, well you’re going to be pissed. Don’t worry though because that pissed off feeling will soon be replaced with awe and joy at what Lamentations brings to your ears. Yeah, it might bring a bit of sadness too when you realize whatever album you thought was the ultimate tits this year is pale in comparison to Passion of Depression, but you know what they say…”you win some and you lose some.” Thankfully for us, Lamentations and Passion of Depression is a winner winner all the way around.

So, it’s already clear I dig these guys. I saw them live a while back in the before times when they had an onstage saxophone player, my girlfriend at the time fell asleep (we both had really long days), and they played masterpiece Where Owls Know My Name in full. After the album was played, Jake Dieffenbach so politely asked us; “Do you want some more music?”

The answer then and now, from these guys, is a “yes.” So, I jumped into this promo with zero hesitation. As you should with the album… and this danged review.

The first track is the theme, but it’s not just ambient sound as you’ll frequently hear with intros. There are excellent clean vocals as well as some harsh ones, and it segues well into the first official track “Dreaming Black Clockwork.”  If you’ve heard their previous work, you already know this band doesn’t exactly sit still, but to begin the album, I must admit this track works in the context of it, but it’s definitely a slow build with some deathcore rhythms.

It feels as though the previously mentioned tracks, as well as the next two, “Wait” and “Focus,” respectively, are all part of one track/whole. It moves so well together it’s almost impossible to play one and not play the others. One of the first singles “Clean” follows, and if you’ve already heard it, you know its power. However, these first few songs are the build-up before this album really gets moving.

On that note, one of the questions that will get asked inevitably is; “Where’s the sax?” Don’t you worry, friend. It’s here. “The Void From Which No Sound Escapes” has your back, and it’s the very next track. After a somewhat heavier track, nearly 5 minutes in, the sax appears at the front and acts as the main instrument during the bridge until the end of the track.

Almost every track could be mentioned in the review, but I am only going to throw out a few more, I promise. Firstly, I’ll mention the heaviness and the line “I hope it fucking kills you,” which gets me every time from “MORE?” This is complete contrast to the shoegaze, almost dream pop vibe of “Maybe One Day,” which is right before the closer.

That closer is titled “Terrestria IV: Work,” which is no surprise, considering the presence of I-III on their previous albums. However, this is a monster. A 10-plus minute monster, which does not feel like 10 minutes. Of course, that’s ideal because most longer songs on the end of an album irk me. This one doesn’t. It’s well executed and includes a reprise of the chorus from an earlier track, which you’ll definitely pick up.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. This album is over an hour long, so, fuck… That’s usually a dealbreaker for me. However… the runtime for The Work flies by. There are a ton of ideas and in my mind, they have successfully built upon the success of Where Owls Know My Name. This is a triumph, from start to finish. For anyone wishing or hoping they would go backwards or possibly go back to their less progressive side from earlier releases, you will be disappointed. It will be on many year-end lists, including my own. I just hope, dear reader, by the time you read this, my box set has arrived. As of this moment, it hasn’t even shipped, but at least I can listen to it in the meantime. For those of you not sure, I beg of you, take a listen and; DO. THE WORK!

It would be very easy for White Stones to just rest on their Opeth-ian roots but being that their first album had that distinct earlier Opeth feel, yet faded away from my listening somewhat quickly, this new one was going to need more staying power and originality in order for it to attain high marks from me.

The first thing I noticed when listening is that the master is really quiet. After the intro, the first real track, “New Age of Dark,” kicks in, and I had to reach for the volume knob (metaphorically, as I was using my iPod and there is no knob). However, if you were expecting something radically different from the debut, you’re not going to get it on the first offering. That familiar rumble is present and frontman Eloi Boucherie has a little more character to his roar this time. In the latter half the track, there’s a blast beat section, which wouldn’t have been too in character for the frequently mentioned band of whom Martin Méndez is a part.

Track 3, “Chain of Command,” has a little more going for it, but doesn’t abandon that familiar rumble/groove. So far, I’m picking up what they’re putting down, but I’m still searching for something a little different.

Well, then comes track 4, “Iron Titans.” When one looks at the track playing and realizes it’s over 9 minutes, it’s time to take a deep breath and strap in (or strap on, depending on your preference). While this track is still death metal and the leads are no doubt solid, the highlight comes from the drum performance by Jordi Farré. It has a distinct improvisational jazz feel, and it’s reason to listen to this track alone.

Moving on to the end of the album, “Freedom in Captivity,” is predictably a bit on the longer side, being that it’s the final “real track,” as the real final strain, called “Acacia (I’ll be here all week),” is simply an instrumental. An extended intro takes up the first two-and-a-half minutes of the former before growls interrupt the serenity, and we have a track that honestly, sounds quite a bit like the rest on offer here. So…

All of you come to my reviews for honesty and hopefully a chuckle, right? I know I do. So, here’s the honest part: I’m not that into this. It’s kind of “meh” for me. If you’re looking for that old Opeth sound, you’ve come to the right place, but the difference is that Opeth was, and some believe still are quite special. They had a sound, but continuously progressed from and expanded upon it. Unfortunately, I just don’t see that here. Sorry, no chuckles.

One such band is Belgium’s InHuman, who were formed from the ashes of Celtic Metal act Anwynn. And the name change has resulted in a sound that still has huge choral and orchestral arrangements (from the Gens University Choir and guitarist Eerik Maurage), but less celtic/fantasy based, a more of a death metal /melodic death metal crunch and stomp.

The nearest comparison I can come up with is  maybe Crematory mixed with Swiss act Dysrider and with The Project Hate; there are deep growled vocals interplaying with operatic female vocals and massive, bombastic, orchestral parts. The only thing missing is TPH’s techno/dance/ electronic elements.

Its all very well done, polished and ambitious. The orchestral arrangements are epic as heck, and interwoven well into the songs as well as a few standalone bridges/breaks etc. The Gens Univerity Choir does a great job as well providing dramatic, choral flourishes (i.e “Unbearably Human”). The guitars have a big , beefy crunch, keeping things heavy and menacing (“The Chosen Cancer”), despite all the theatrical elements.

Other solid songs include “Unfolded”, “The Day I Died” and the more aggressive  “For the Life of Me” and dramatic 7 minute penultimate number “Casus Belli”. It all results in a pretty enjoyable album of bombastic, orchestral metal that shows a lot of promise.

Yes, I am aware Beyond Creation has a track called “Coexistence,” but I’m sure they’re not the only ones. That’s definitely a good starting point, though. When “Metaphysical Essence” kicks in, you’ll notice the fretless bassadilla right away. You’ll also be aware of the production. While it’s not bad or out of the ordinary for tech death, it’s a little thin. The instruments are still audible, so it’s not a distraction (you can always turn up the volume). The track itself is not atypical of the technical death metal spectrum until about 3 minutes in where there’s a lead, a very Gojira-esque section, then a jazzy section, which makes me scream “That’s baby-making music, that’s what that is.” No “yazz” flute, though.

Would I spoil it now if I told you there was no “yazz” flute on the entire record? Sorry… The second track, “Symbiosis of Creation” continues the momentum from the first. This time, there’s a little more of a groove, although one could argue there’s not much difference between the two. There’s a tight, fantastic solo, as to be expected and that prevalent fretless bass is responsible for carrying the last minute or so of the track to its conclusion. I don’t know about you, but I am a big fan of the sound of the fretless bass and I think we should all come together to start a petition removing all fretted basses from existence.

To provide the bass some more room and not unlike many of their peers, Coexistence are prone to instrumental, borderline lounge music jam sessions, such as in “Eclipse” and “Revert.” The former has some extended jam sessions but is still tech death through and through. The latter, however, is basically a tale of two songs. The first half is tech death and the second is some chilled out, relaxing lounge music for those times where you’re at the casino and really pissed off, then decide to gamble away your life savings.

I wanted to mention one more track, which is the closer. “Floating in the Celestial Wave” takes a couple minutes to get going before the vocals kick in and the pedal gets stomped to the floor. I always like to mention the final track because this is frequently where bands will experiment. That’s not the case here. While it’s still a good track, there’s nothing new brought to the table.

With that in mind, I have some complaints. It’s a little long (if I had a nickel for each time I heard that, I would have ZERO nickels). It’s also formulaic at times. After continuous listens, I go back and forth between absolutely loving it and thinking it’s merely “good.” Of course, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Transcending Obscurity records, their label, deserves a mention here. If they release an album, it’s going to be worth the time. Their roster is full of exciting, incredible, talented heavy metal bands spanning multiple sub genres. They do their merch very well, too, including multiple varieties of CDs, vinyl, and apparel. I recommend browsing their roster. While you’re there, Coexistence’s debut might be a great place to start.

Black Crown Initiate encompass a lot of metal sub genres. Upon their arrival, they were called many things, even djent because of the chorus of “A Great Mistake.” I prefer to just call them progressive metal or frankly, fucking awesome.

The first track. “Invitation,” starts out slow with some clean vocals and guitars, but when those death growls hit, they hit hard… and it doesn’t take long. There are definitely some of the previously mentioned djent influences. The production is tight although admittedly a bit loud, and the clean vocals sound a lot like Ihsahn. This is nothing new, but I didn’t notice it before. Thanks to a colleague for pointing that out. Add in some stellar lead guitar work and you have a monster of an opening track.

After that, “Son of War” is much shorter with quite a nice vocal hook to go along with the blast beats and death growls. It is not to be confused with a track later on the album called “Sun of War.”

I want to briefly mention the short interlude “Bellow,” which sounds much like James Hetfield of Metallica playing Mustakrakish, the Finnish lake troll in Metalocalypse. Also known as Papa Het’s best vocal performance in years. If I ever get the chance to interview him, I’m going to ask his thoughts on one’s lifestyle determining their death style and also how it felt to have lines in a cartoon where he literally just bellowed (there’s your fucking tie-in).

The next track I want to mention is “Holy Silence,” which starts off with a guitar tone reminiscent of Deftones’ “Change (In the House of Flies).” The vocals enter about a minute in, which are of the clean variety. You’re teased with what feels like a build, but it doesn’t get heavy yet. That takes about a minute. While this track is mostly clean vocals, the trade between the death growls and the cleans, including the solid chorus, really carry this fantastic track. They should have ended the album here because the real closing track, “He is the Path,” doesn’t add much and kills the momentum from “Holy Silence.” It also reminds me of “Vicious Lives” from their previous record.

So, we are at the end of the album (and probably the world soon enough). Quality hooks, brutality, progression… What more could you want? This is better than their previous but does not eclipse The Wreckage of Stars. I really like this band, but I feel like everyone who writes this style of progressive death metal will be playing catch up to 2018’s Rivers of Nihil masterpiece Where Owls Know My Name. This includes Black Crown Initiate, but they continue to make really good, maybe even great records and asking a band to live up to another’s masterpiece is just not fair. I have high expectations for these guys and they weren’t quite met, but that’s only because it’s not the greatest album of all time. I thoroughly enjoy this record and with more time to grow, I would not be surprised to see it fighting for a place on my year end list. If you like the (death) style, pick this up. You won’t be disappointed (unless you try to order a bundle from their merch handler because those are sold out).

With Opeth and Gojira worn openly on their sleeve, Rannoch delivers 12 tracks (with 3 interludes) and 69 minutes of ambitious, progressive metal that has its moments, but also never quite hits a truly brilliant sweet spot to really stick with you with despite all its orchestral bluster and constant style shifts.

The band certainly aims high with the album’s material and production values, all having A list potential and skill. But within the aforementioned 69 minutes, there are only a few moments of special, memorable music. Sure, there is plenty of stern, shuddering death metal riffs and grooves, an array of vocal styles, some spacey dramatic orchestration and such, almost all of it delivered in 8 minute, true opener “De Heptarchia Mystica” or “Despair”. But while I enjoyed the album, I really never felt myself taken aback or wishing to revisit a certain song or riff.

Even when the band digs a little deeper into the more obvious Opeth-ian realms and contrasting heavy/light hues such as “The Hanged Man”, “The Dream”, “The Devoured” or the mammoth 9 minute closer “Void”, the material is certainly ambitious, well played and masterfully rendered, but largely forgetful.

A pretty good, ambitious album for sure. That said, deeper, further listens, certainly may unravel a truly splendid album at some point.

However, Morbus Chron were here one moment, gone the next. Horrendous picked up that torch and ran with it. However, this review isn’t about Death, Morbus Chron, or Horrendous. This is about Sweven and their debut, The Eternal Resonance. So, why the extended intro? Well, Sweven is the new band led by Robert Andersson of Morbus Chron. Just looking at the band name, I’m sure, dear reader, you are astute enough to have drawn some sort of lineage. I’m proud of you.

You probably know what to expect, at least a little, from this album, but I am going to tell you my thoughts anyway. Firstly, I think the production deserves a mention. Before even getting into the music, this record is pristine, yet punchy. It’s clean, modern, and somehow also sounds analog. It’s beautifully played, recorded, and captured. Well done. Now, onto the music.

Brutal, slamming, heavy. None of those adjectives apply here. When the intro, “The Spark” begins, one immediately notices the cleanliness in the production, but also the instrumentation (is that a mandolin?). The intro keeps building as I am preparing my pants to be soiled. Then, track 2, the first proper track, “By Virtue of a Promise” begins. It takes nearly another 2 minutes before we finally hear some throat shredding vocals courtesy of main man Robert Andersson. The dynamics already on display less than a full two tracks in cannot be overstated. If you hear a better guitar/bass production, I implore you to make me aware. As a (terrible) guitar player, I have always had an affinity for being able to hear the guitarist’s hands moving along the fret board, perhaps because it brings a human element to the music. The recording on this album is so pristine, I can hear this in the picking on “By Virtue Of A Promise.” This track changes shape so many times in its 9-minute runtime, going from somber and mellow to galloping and heavy multiple times over. One full track in and I am swooning. Someone fetch me a fan for I have the vapors.

Track 3 is the next number in this already persistently evolving mammoth. Coming in at a downright radio-friendly 7 minutes (compared to the previous track), “Reduced To An Ember” is another slow burn, progressive monster with some keyboards thrown in the mix, but I believe the next song, “The Sole Importance,” has a little more going for it. About 5 minutes into the track, one can feel the build into a fantastic solo that’s honestly just a bit too short. Yeah, the song is over 8 minutes long and I feel like a part of it is too short. With a little over a minute left, another lead takes over (but it’s not a hair whipping solo), which lasts until the end of the song.

Track 5, “Mycelia,” is desperation in audio form. With the clean guitar, the quick snare hits (and even some blast beats) thrown in underneath, for 5 minutes of the runtime, I feel like this song just has something it needs to get off its chest… NOW! However, after that time elapses, everything calms down, and it goes all the way until what I can only describe as a jazzy outro.

Let’s skip ahead a little bit to the last track on the album, which is “Sanctum Sanctorum.” Here we have an 8 and ½ minute track, which is mostly instrumental. Entirely instrumental if you disregard the chanting. Usually, a track with this runtime and no vocals would do nothing for me. I’d disregard it and skip it when it comes on just to get to the end of the album faster. That does not occur here as I feel like it adds to the album, and is therefore a perfect ending.

I hesitate to call anything “transcendental.” So, I won’t. This album is frequently progressive, rock, even “instru-metal.” In other words, it may often be considered not metal. If not for the vocals, this could hardly be called “death metal.” Instead, to put a label on it, I suppose we go with “progressive death metal.” It’s difficult to put this album into words, even though I have certainly committed many to it. My only complaint is that it might be just a bit too long. At 8 tracks and slightly over an hour long, despite the fact this album is consistently engaging, moving, and evolving, listening can be a bit tiring. However, to be honest, I have a poor attention span, and anything over 40 minutes when it comes to an album tends to get me checking to see if it’s over. This, however, is a minor complaint. I was a fan of this album from the first listen. While every song seamlessly flows into the next and there is a clear “sound” to the album, every track is also vital to its execution. Cutting one song. Hell, even one minute would be tragic.

I think this is the part where I am supposed to come up with some metaphor as to how you should let this album wrap itself around you like a cocoon of some sort, or maybe even a weighted blanket. I’m too mature for that. Instead, what I will say is that you should curl up with this album during the quarantine, let it touch your nether regions, and try not to fall in love.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself right now what exactly this has to do with White Stones. Everything. White Stones is the solo project formed by Opeth bassist Martin Lopez. Martin wrote the music, recorded the guitars and bass, enlisted Cruciamentum drummer Jordi Farré, and vocalist Eloi Boucherie of Vidres A La Sang. He also had a little help with the guitar solos from his friend Frederik Akesson from Opeth on all tracks, except for “The One,” which is courtesy of Katatonia and Bloodbath’s Per Eriksson.

With a lineup listed like the one above, I had very high expectations. The album begins with a brief intro, then goes right into the first track “Rusty Shell.” The sound is very reminiscent of that one band with whom Martin Mendez plays who used to perform progressive death metal yet changed direction to go into progressive rock. Their name escapes me. When Eloi’s roar starts a little over 30 seconds into this track, tell me it doesn’t remind you of Mikael Akerfeldt and I’ll fight you. However, he is far from a clone, and has his own vocal style, which fits the music perfectly. On the instrumental side, I was reading that Martin recorded the guitars using a Fender Strat with very little distortion but recorded his bass to be fuller and fatter. Mission accomplished. The bass has a thundering rumble, which is present throughout the duration.

Right after “Rusty Shell” comes “Worms,” which is a groovy monster. In fact, this could describe the entirety of the album. Every single track should get your head moving. There are quite a few standouts, so I wanted to mention just a couple. “Guyra,” which is track 6, starts out with a relatively clean intro, but doesn’t take long before bringing the death metal. About 2 minutes into the track, you can really hear that Fender Strat. This track is constantly moving and evolving all the way up to the excellent solo at the end. Standout “Infected Soul,” clocking in at a little over 6 minutes, contains the trademark groove of the rest of the album up to this point while also containing some outstanding lead work, which has a Latin vibe to it, but definitely keeps with the overall vibe of the track.

It’s worth mentioning at this point some differences between expectations and reality. There are no 10-minute epics here and the album is just over 40 minutes altogether. So, while there are reference points to Martin’s earlier work with Opeth, to call this a clone would be a disservice to what has been created. That would be an insult to every artist’s involvement.

With that said, back to the whole ass itch thing. In this poorly conceived metaphor, Opeth was the itch. While their new (if it can even be called such at this point) direction doesn’t really do a lot for me, I respect artists doing what they desire. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to scratch that itch for the vibe from their earlier material. I read so many reviews where bands were being compared to them and it just never stuck. Who knew that all these years later, the bass player still in the band would be the one to finally do it? This album is not perfect, but it’s pretty good. If I’m so glad I finally got rid of that itchy ass. Oh, and found a fantastic death metal record, too. Very highly recommended!

Yep- it’s been 13 years since the divisive Gloria, which while a solid album, had the herculean task of following up a certifiable classic in the melodic death metal/ progressive metal realms is Back To Times of Splendor. With Gloria (and its new weird logo /font) adding some more industrial, robotic almost Rammstein elements along with the always popular loss of harsh vocals, the response was pretty negative, despite having some redeeming qualities.

Well, with The Liberation, fans will be ecstatic to hear the band has largely returned to the sound of Back to Times of Splendor, with just a minor hint of Gloria’s more clean, progressive aesthetic. The harsh vocals are back  (Oh Hi Opeth!….) as are the long rangy, unfurling, intoxicating, building songs, and the result is worth the wait, as The Liberation is simply fantastic.

The Liberation sees lone remaining member from Splendor, Andy Schmidt (known as Vurtox back then), joined by a whole new band and it’s clear who the driving force was behind Disillusion’s finer moments. “In Waking Hours” is a gorgeous instrumental intro before the 12 minute “WE ARE BACK!” styled opener “Wintertide” delivers regal, rumbling passages and delicate, crystalline melodic death/prog moments of more urgent tenacity (yes, even blast beats!), which were clearly missing from Gloria, and signalling confidently that this is a reinvigorated Schmidt/Disillusion, but with an eye to the band’s classic debut.

First single/video “The Great Unknown” gives me a bit of a reunion era Gorefest vibe, with big beefy riffs and gruff shouts mixed in with supine clean moments and Schmidt’s alluring clean croons ending the song in austere fashion. “A Shimmer in the Darkest Sea” slows things down a bit with a patient ebb and pulse that repeats and lulls before the title track strides confidently in with a purposeful, grooving stomping rock riff and a great keyboard driven chorus, but it wanders a bit in it mid section before the chorus comes back to close out the track in dramatic fashion.”Time to Let Go” brings a somber hue to the proceedings, with an almost Finnish sense of melancholy, and a gorgeous cello led track ending and crescendo.

The album bookends with another 12 minute track, the slow burning “The Mountain”, where Schmidt channels his inner Pete Steele with some bass-y gothic croons.  The track takes a while to get going before a introspective trumpet led break gets the song going and it finally takes off about 9 minutes in and ends the album with something a little more impactful and memorable.

Reunions/comebacks can be hit or miss, especially after a long hiatus, and even more so if the band left on a bit of a dour note (Gloria). But that note is triumphantly and emphatically  erased with The Liberation, as Disillusion is one of the best reunions of recent memory. Lets just hope they stay on this more splendorous path and sound and don’t revert back to times of Gloria…

Slapping a definitive label on The Odious and their shape-shifting sound is no easy task. And this remains so on Vesica Piscis. Think a colourful blend of progressive death, infused with spazzed-out, jazzy math rock coupled with the druggy melancholy and gorgeous darkened melodies that recall vintage Alice In Chains. This may give some indication of what you’re getting into, but even still, The Odious and their restless collage of robust, complex metal still holds many surprises. Vesica Piscis is one hell of a journey across 50 minutes of exhilarating and innovative modern metal.

The progressive label has a tendency to ward off certain metal listeners, yet much like Sermon’s excellent Birth of the Marvellous album from earlier in the year, The Odious expand the boundaries while staying true to their aggressive metal roots to craft songs with the appeal to reel in listeners from the broader metal spectrum. Speaking of which, the songs comprising Vesica Piscis are exceptionally well crafted, despite their often unconventional detours and structures. The writing is slick, extremely addictive and memorable, while remaining fluid in its cohesiveness. Soaring hooks sit amidst intricate musicianship and busy compositions loaded with muscular riffs, boundless energy, creatively complex drum patterns, and a multi-faceted vocal approach that is enforced with potent effectiveness.

Opening scene setter “Scape” creates a jumbled, unsettling atmosphere but doesn’t offer anything especially compelling. Thankfully, as soon as first proper track “Repugnant” kicks into the gear, the album comes to life with caffeinated immediacy. Aggressive prog-death collides with quirky passages of restraint, hardcore-tinged attitude, and bulldozing grooves. Tied together with a typically diverse vocal performance, including memorable cleanly sung moments and a hearty range of extreme styles, it’s a commanding beginning to the album. Buffeted with vintage synths, gorgeous melodies, and a laidback ‘90s grunge feel, “Glowjaw” sounds both fresh and familiar, breaking the album’s more aggressive, heavier streak with impressive results. Boasting a hugely energetic and thrashy streak, “Hastor the Shepard Gaunt,” bristles with creativity and bruising heaviness, upping the ante in swaggering style. Meanwhile, later album cut “Misuse and Malignment” offers a concise slab of hooky, jazz-infected metal; aggressive, high energy, and deliciously groovy and unpredictable.

Production-wise, Vesica Piscis is enamoured with a bright, modern punch, yet doesn’t sound sterile or clinical in the least, offering a well balanced mix of clarity, depth and heft. Several tracks raise the stakes, but overall, it’s a remarkably strong and consistent listen across the board. Despite its hefty length and the purposefully, yet frustratingly chopped up climax to the Alice In Chains-esque closing balled “Fix,” The Odious keep things tight and interesting throughout the album’s duration. Following a lengthy break between drinks, The Odious smashed it out of the park with Vesica Piscis and crafted a unique, adventurous and compelling extreme metal album. This is the sort of metal album that will likely divide audiences, but for the adventurous listener, the rewards are very fruitful indeed.

With 11 tracks based on iconic horror stories (The Shining, IT, The Deadzone, Hannibal, etc) and a host of guests including Eddie Hermida (All Shall Perish, Suicide Silence),  Mike Semesky (Intervals, The Haarp Machine), Jamie Hanks (I Declare War), Brian James (Fallujah) and a Jamie King mix/master, Dreamcatcher is  the very epitome of modern progressive tech death/deathcore/djent metal that sits squarely in the same realms as Fallujah, Born of Osiris, Pathways, The Contortionist, After the Burial,  7 Horns 7  Eyes etc, but does everything impressively enough to be a major player and album in the crowded genre/scene.

Yes, there are starry keyboards, orchestral interludes,  clean vocals (well done ones might I add) and such to go along with the mix of choppy staccato riffs, burly death metal blasts, breakdowns and deep growls and screams, and it all seems a bit familiar (especially if you are familiar with Fallujah). But there is an airy, breath of confidence and competence that fill all 11 tracks.

“Before the Eons” is a solid opener, displaying about all the band’s skill sets, with a nice lead and ambient bridge in the middle. The big opening lurch of “Eternal” and the album’s first, well done use of clean vocals as well as 6 and a half minute “The Ritual” with its extended orchestral closeout (which happens again for another longer solid track,  “Between Silver and Iron”) makes for a solid opening trio. Then, later on, personal favorite, “The Dark  Triad” got my attention with its killer lope and dreamy lead work. “Overlook”  and “Caretaker” (with yet another lengthy orchestral closeout) are both more direct hefty, churning numbers to start, then it becomes apparent the band relies a little too much on the ambient, ethereal bridges and closeouts, and when “Second Sight” and “Day Zero” delivers another one and the closing title trick IS one, it starts to get a tad repetitive.

That all said, despite this being a pretty solid release that will certainly steal some of Fallujah’s thunder,I  kept thinking to myself,  “when are Vildjharta going to release a new album”?

I expect that to change with the release of Under the Red Cloud, their 12^th studio release. This is going to get a lot of plays over the next few years as well, because it’s Amorphis at their absolute best. All of the signature elements are here: gorgeous folk melodies played with clear, singing lines atop heavier guitar; cavorting flute and pounding Hammond organs; Tomi Joutsen’s soaring, ragged-king vocals; and a progressive-rock melding of all of these elements that’s both ambitious and effortless. There’s also a much stronger focus on bigger riffs and death vocals than in years – many of the album’s songs are dominated by growls, though there’s a stirring chorus in each as well.

“Under the Red Cloud” is a rousing anthem with a clear folk melody, a melancholy vocal, simple guitar crunch backed by stately organ, and a classic Amorphis chorus. Add in a touch of growls for accent and a rapturous keyboard–driven solo, and you have the best album intro since Skyforger‘s “Sampo.” Then Amorphis switches it up in the verses for the next one, “The Four Wise Ones,” with commanding growls and no cleans. When was the last time they did a death-only song? A softer dirge-like bridge, backed by flute, soft choral voices, and a heavily distorted angelic vocal – as if bubbling up from beneath still water – keeps the mood somber, though melancholy does not mean listless.

The faster riffs and the effect of all of these textural and melodic layers working together in each track are thrilling. That layered approach really shines throughout the rest of the album – as well the band’s renewed embrace of both light and dark. I also love how the band has developed a varied palette even within this approach.

Some tracks enlist lighter instruments like flutes to help carry the main melody, but others, like “The Skull” go heavier and groovier with crashing organs. “Dark Path” kicks off with a delicate piano, but turns out to be one of the album’s darkest and most crushing tracks, with its most malevolent vocals yet.  “Death of a King,” the exotic first single, and soon to be another band-classic, pulls in Middle Eastern sitar and tribal drumming into its intro before trading them up for a whistling flute. Instant cue back to Tuonela, though that album was fairly light compared to this one so it’s the best of all worlds. “Tree of Ages” pulls both halves together – dancing folk melody and pounding, percussive riffs – for a climax that embodies the spirit of folk metal, and then somber album closer “White Night” brings in a whispery female vocal (guest Aleah Stanbridge) for a cinematic and satisfying denouement.

Although there are no significant experiments or changes to Amorphis’ sound on Under the Red Cloud, it simply shines with a renewed vigor and energy. The return of consistent death vocals is a much better showcase for the band’s versatility than on the previous two albums, but without losing any of the soaring and stirring melodies that they’ve mastered over the years. Everything has been polished to the point where I would give this, Skyforger, and Tales from the Thousand Lakes as my top 3 picks to anyone curious about Amorphis’ sound. Instant classic for the band and one of the year’s most refined releases.